Qualifying for the Tournament of Champions is hard. It is the top 1%, or even less than that of high school debaters, and it prioritizes the most technical, research heavy argumentation above all else. One has to go to multiple regional tournaments, and depending on the historical strength of schedule, teams hoping to qualify have to get deep into elimination rounds in order to get a “bid.” Then you’ve got to do it all over again for at least two “bids.”

Seniors Daniella Choi and Sitara Mazumdar and Juniors Margaret Applegate and Jack Schmidt have each been to the ToC before, as sophomores. Each time, they battled through and got their bids, and found the ToC to be competitively challenging, with the best teams around, mostly from elite private and/or suburban schools, and the judge pool full of their coaches and supporters. 

This year, we hoped things would be different….And they were. 

Sitara and Daniella dropped their first few rounds, and we had a sinking feeling in our stomachs. Yet “here we go again,” wasn’t to be. Despite some questionable decisions, they stayed upbeat, and won their first round at this level. Including the decisions from judges that actively questioning whether Urban Debate Leagues belonged at the competition, they should have had a 3-4 record. 

Jack and Margaret took a swing in round one at the first WUDL win at the ToC against perennial powerhouse New Trier….and won. They followed that up with another, and then two more the second day. They finished 4-3, with a winning record, defeating New Trier (IL),  Brooklyn Tech (NY), McDonough, (MD), and Glenbrooks North (IL). They almost made it 5 wins and an elimination round appearance against eventual semi-finalists from Westwood (TX), but lost on a technicality. 

Many thanks to those that helped our team to get this far, coaching on site and doing research behind the scenes: 

• Messai Yigletu (Coach, BASIS DC)
• Nala King (Coach, DC International, WUDL Advisory Board)
• Kathy Martinez (Chicago UDL and Georgetown Debate Alumna, former Richard Wright Coach)
• Gabe Ritter (Former School Without Walls Coach and Congressional Staffer)
• Patrick McMullen (Former Volunteer of the Year, Attorney)
• Jay Yoon (WUDL Intern)
• McAlister Clabaugh and David Trigaux (WUDL Staff)